Core Services

New Zealand’s city councils once focused on fixing potholes, maintaining pipes, keeping the buses moving, regularly collecting the rubbish, keeping flood waters away, as well as maintaining libraries, museums, reserves, parks, and recreation facilities.

These were considered their “core services” prior to 2019.

According to the November 2018 version of the Local Government Act 2002, “core services” were defined as:

11A Core services to be considered in performing role

In performing its role, a local authority must have particular regard to the contribution that the following core services make to its communities:

(a) network infrastructure:

(b) public transport services:

(c) solid waste collection and disposal:

(d) the avoidance or mitigation of natural hazards:

(e) libraries, museums, reserves, and other recreational facilities and community amenities.

According to the New Zealand Parliament website, in April 2018 a bill was introduced which would become the Local Government (Community Well-being) Amendment Act 2019.

This amendment act removed the “core services” section 11A from the Local Government Act 2002 and instead replaced the purpose of local government with “to promote the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of communities in the present and for the future”. Section 3(d) was also replaced with “provides for local authorities to play a broad role in promoting the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of their communities, taking a sustainable development approach.”

This category on CityWatch NZ will focus on issues related those traditional “core services”, including infrastructure, transport, and waste removal.

[Last updated 25/11/2023]